The State Library of Louisiana is leveraging all of its assets to ensure that while the State Library itself must operate on a skeletal budget, Louisiana’s public libraries will continue to receive State Library services with as few interruptions as possible. To this end, changes to the Administrative Code have been approved and puts the State Library in line with policies that are being put into place by Louisiana’s other state agencies. These new rules went into effect on January 1, 2011.

Fines and Fees for Library Materials (Overdue Material and Replacement Costs)Beginning January 3, 2011, the State Library began charging fines for overdue material as well as a processing fee for lost materials. The per day fine for overdue items is now $.10 up to a maximum per book of $10. For lost items or destroyed material, the State Library now adds a $25 processing fee to the replacement cost of each item. If the item is then returned during the same fiscal year, the patron will receive a refund of the replacement cost. These fees and fines that the State Library will now charge fall in line with the best practices of other state library agencies and will ensure that patrons make every effort to return materials, which at this point are financially difficult to replace.

Meeting Room ChargesThe State Library has four meeting rooms that seat from eight to 100 people each. Previously, groups that were under the auspices of a Louisiana state agency were not charged a fee. Under the new rules, however, the State Library not only began charging fees to rent these meeting rooms, but also has made them available to the general public for rental. Those charges run from $65 up to $500, depending on the meeting room, the length of use and the renter. The State Library charges additional costs for items or services such as equipment usage, supplies, security or cleaning. The meeting rooms will remain free for library functions and CRT meetings.

Gumbo Digital Images The Gumbo images that are in the Louisiana Digital Library are quite popular. The State Library gets frequent requests for higher resolution images for use in newspapers, advertisements, for educational use, and many other reasons. Up until now, the Library charged a flat rate of $10 per image regardless of who was making the purchase or how the image was to be used. Fees now range from $10 up to $100, with the State Librarian having discretionary leeway depending on the circumstances.

All told, the State Library continues to use every available means to continue services to public libraries as well as our own patrons. The primary goals are to make sure the State Library is able to maintain a healthy collection and that our resources are used fairly by the general public, state agencies and our own patrons. As always, we will continue searching new, more effective and efficient ways to meet these goals.